The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors caught by surprise on Metrorail--AGAIN!

Reporting on yesterday's Board Transportation Committee meeting concerning the Silver Line and TIFIA financing, the McLean Patch notes that, once again, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has been caught by surprise on something that they have ostensibly been working on for more than a year:  Applying for TIFIA financing! 

Now they have less than a week to complete the paperwork and they are stuttering and stammering!

Here's some of what William Callahan has to say in his Patch report:

Joe LaHait, the county’s debt coordinator, said if the county secured such a loan, approximately $1.3 billion would be allocated to the Dulles Toll Road. Toll Road users are currently on the hook for 75 percent of the $5.9 billion rail project and toll prices are expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.

But the quick turnaround — officials would have to finish the application in a week's time — is giving some supervisors pause. . .

And the DOT is on a tight schedule – the board would have to approve the loan application at its May 14 meeting.

“Loudoun and the Airports Authority have already taken their action, so we wanted to put you in a position to be able to move the project forward,” Biesiadny told supervisors.

Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully) took issue with the quick turnaround.

“We’re borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars,” Frey said. “We’re doing this in a week.”

County staff said the USDOT was slow in getting back to them with the precise details of the loan, which forced a tight timeline. 

WHAT!  You just can't make this stuff up!  If you did, who would believe it??

In fact, the schedule for every step of the TIFIA application and approval process is public knowledge, even posted on US DOT's website.  Why is it that Fairfax County--and Fairfax County alone--can't complete it's homework on time??

First, the Board couldn't (and hasn't) put all the funding together--much less the actual work--to complete the steps necessary to provide reasonable, safe, and efficient access to the new Wiehle Metrorail station despite being told what was needed five years ago.  

Now it can't complete an application for TIFIA financing in a timely manner. 

Words can not describe . . . .